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Aim: Pirfenidone is a novel anti-fibrotic agent utilized in the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). It has been implicated in mitigating myocardial fibrosis and left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction in animal models. However, its impact on LV mechanics in humans remains unknown. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the effects of pirfenidone on echocardiographic parameters of LV function and structure in patients with IPF.

Objectives The primary endpoints of the study were to assess the effectiveness of hip joint arthroscopy in the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in patients with joint gap stenosis and to determine if and how quickly patients were able to return to work and physical activity. Material and Methods The prospective study of patients undergoing hip joint arthroscopy due to pain in FAI has been conducted. They were divided into 2 groups depending on the degree of the radiological examination. The criterion was the width of the joint gap. The study group involved 47 patients with hip joint gap of 2–3 mm, identified by means of the standardized X-ray examination. The control group consisted of 45 patients with hip joint gap > 3 mm. The post-operative follow-up period of the patients lasted at least 2 years. In addition, the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire together with Harris Hip Score (HHS) were applied. The patients were also evaluated for the post-operative time period enabling return to work. Results All the patients after hip joint arthroscopy returned to normal physical activity within 12 weeks after operation, enabling their return to work. However, it should be noted that during the post-operative follow-up, pain sensations either recurred or did not regress in 37 patients in the study group and 12 patients in the control group after treatment. The nearly equal results of the WOMAC questionnaire and HHS before operation significantly vary between both groups in the last follow up. In the study group they did not change expressively. Conclusions Despite the little invasiveness, hip joint arthroscopy in patients with joint gap stenosis brings about the far from satisfactory results. This procedure is not worth considering. Despite unsatisfactory pain relief, patients decided to returned to work, due to their occupational position and for fear of losing the job due to long absenteeism. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2019;32(1):115–120

IntroductionAlthough dementia-related proteinopathy has a strong negative impact on public health, and is highly heritable, understanding of the related genetic architecture is incomplete.MethodsWe applied multidimensional generalized partial credit modeling (GPCM) to test genetic associations with dementia-related proteinopathies. Data were analyzed to identify candidate single nucleotide variants for the following proteinopathies: Aβ, tau, α-synuclein, and TDP-43.ResultsFinal included data comprised 966 participants with neuropathologic and WGS data. Three continuous latent outcomes were constructed, corresponding to TDP-43-, Aβ/Tau-, and α-synuclein-related neuropathology endophenotype scores. This approach helped validate known genotype/phenotype associations: for example, TMEM106B and GRN were risk alleles for TDP-43 pathology; and GBA for α-synuclein/Lewy bodies. Novel suggestive proteinopathy-linked alleles were also discovered, including several (SDHAF1, TMEM68, and ARHGEF28) with colocalization analyses and/or high degrees of biologic credibility.DiscussionA novel methodology using GPCM enabled insights into gene candidates for driving misfolded proteinopathies.HighlightsLatent factor scores for proteinopathies were estimated using a generalized partial credit model. The three latent continuous scores corresponded well with proteinopathy severity. Novel genes associated with proteinopathies were identified. Several genes had high degrees of biologic credibility for dementia risk factors.

Abstract Background It is generally accepted that methylation status of CpG sites spaced up to 50 bp apart is correlated, and accumulation of locally disordered methylation at adjacent CpG sites is involved in neoplastic transformation, acting in similar way as stochastic accumulation of mutations. Results We used EPIC microarray data from 596 samples, representing 12 healthy tissue and cell types, as well as 572 blood cancer specimens to analyze methylation status of adjacent CpG sites across human genome, and subsequently validated our findings with NGS and Sanger sequencing. Our analysis showed that there is a subset of the adjacent CpG sites in human genome, with cytosine at one CpG site methylated and the other devoid of methyl group. These loci map to enhancers that are targeted by families of transcription factors involved in cell differentiation. Moreover, our results suggest that the methylation at these loci differ between alleles within a cell, what allows for remarkable level of heterogeneity of methylation patterns. However, different types of specialized cells acquire only one specific and stable pattern of methylation at each of these loci and that pattern is to a large extent lost during neoplastic transformation. Conclusions We identified a substantial number of adjacent CpG loci in human genome that display remarkably stable and cell type specific methylation pattern. The methylation pattern at these loci appears to reflect different methylation of alleles in cells. Furthermore, we showed that changes of methylation status at those loci are likely to be involved in regulation of the activity of enhancers and contribute to neoplastic transformation.

The industrial development and economic growth have provided a conducive environment for manufacturing process improvements. However, this progress also poses several challenges to remain competitive and improve efficiency and productivity. Failure mode and effect analysis is a systematic approach that is used extensively in the field of risk management to enhance quality and efficiency in different sectors including manufacturing and healthcare sectors. In this paper, novel approach to enhance the failure mode and effects analysis is proposed. The approach can address the inherent uncertainty involved in assigning numerical values to represent the severity, occurrence and detection of each failure. A case study from a small-scale factor was assessed to ensure the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Abstract Adverse intrauterine conditions may cause fetal growth restriction (FGR), a pregnancy complication frequently linked to perinatal morbidity and mortality. Although many studies have focused on FGR, the pathophysiological processes underlying this disorder are complex and incompletely understood. We have recently determined that galectin-3 (gal-3), a β-galactoside-binding protein, regulates pregnancy-associated processes, including uterine receptibility, maternal vascular adaptation and placentation. Because gal-3 is expressed at both sides of the maternal-fetal interface, we unraveled the contribution of maternal- and paternal-derived gal-3 on fetal-placental development in the prenatal window and its effects on the post-natal period. Deficiency of maternal gal-3 induced maternal gut microbiome dysbiosis, resulting in a sex-specific fetal growth restriction mainly observed in female fetuses and offspring. In addition, poor placental metabolic adaptions (characterized by decreased trophoblast glycogen content and insulin-like growth factor 2 (Igf2) gene hypomethylation) were only associated with a lack of maternal-derived gal-3. Paternal gal-3 deficiency caused compromised vascularization in the placental labyrinth without affecting fetal growth trajectory. Thus, maternal-derived gal-3 may play a key role in fetal-placental development through the gut-placenta axis.

Mechanisms of resilience against tau pathology in individuals across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum are insufficiently understood. Longitudinal data are necessary to reveal which factors relate to preserved cognition (i.e. cognitive resilience) and brain structure (i.e. brain resilience) despite abundant tau pathology, and to clarify whether these associations are cross-sectional or longitudinal. We used a longitudinal study design to investigate the role of several demographic, biological and brain structural factors in yielding cognitive and brain resilience to tau pathology as measured with PET. In this multicentre study, we included 366 amyloid-β-positive individuals with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease dementia with baseline 18F-flortaucipir-PET and longitudinal cognitive assessments. A subset (n = 200) additionally underwent longitudinal structural MRI. We used linear mixed-effects models with global cognition and cortical thickness as dependent variables to investigate determinants of cognitive resilience and brain resilience, respectively. Models assessed whether age, sex, years of education, APOE-ε4 status, intracranial volume (and cortical thickness for cognitive resilience models) modified the association of tau pathology with cognitive decline or cortical thinning. We found that the association between higher baseline tau-PET levels (quantified in a temporal meta-region of interest) and rate of cognitive decline (measured with repeated Mini-Mental State Examination) was adversely modified by older age (Stβinteraction = -0.062, P = 0.032), higher education level (Stβinteraction = -0.072, P = 0.011) and higher intracranial volume (Stβinteraction = -0.07, P = 0.016). Younger age, higher education and greater cortical thickness were associated with better cognitive performance at baseline. Greater cortical thickness was furthermore associated with slower cognitive decline independent of tau burden. Higher education also modified the negative impact of tau-PET on cortical thinning, while older age was associated with higher baseline cortical thickness and slower rate of cortical thinning independent of tau. Our analyses revealed no (cross-sectional or longitudinal) associations for sex and APOE-ε4 status on cognition and cortical thickness. In this longitudinal study of clinically impaired individuals with underlying Alzheimer's disease neuropathological changes, we identified education as the most robust determinant of both cognitive and brain resilience against tau pathology. The observed interaction with tau burden on cognitive decline suggests that education may be protective against cognitive decline and brain atrophy at lower levels of tau pathology, with a potential depletion of resilience resources with advancing pathology. Finally, we did not find major contributions of sex to brain nor cognitive resilience, suggesting that previous links between sex and resilience might be mainly driven by cross-sectional differences.

Hot storage tanks (HST) are known for their high energy consumption, attributed to variations in usage, heat dissipation within the tank, and heat losses to the surroundings. This study proposes a chimney-type electrically heated HST, which is investigated under static mode to enhance its thermal performance. Different natural circulation areas (chimney areas) with large (9.5 cm diameter), medium (2.5 cm diameter), and small (1.5 cm diameter) sizes were utilized to examine the effect of natural circulation on the HST performance. Additionally, the influence of chimney insulation on the HST performance was also studied. The experiments revealed that the chimney significantly affected the thermal stratification within the tank. Different chimney contact diameters (9.5 cm, 2.5 cm, and 1.5 cm) were tested, showing varying degrees of thermal stratification. The results indicated that smaller chimney contact diameters led to higher thermal stratification and more rapid heating of the top layer temperatures. However, the impact of insulation on thermal performance was inconclusive, suggesting the need for more effective insulation and further investigation into the dynamic mode of operation. The findings also highlighted the faster heating of the top outer layer compared to the larger diameter, emphasizing the significance of the chimney type electrical heater in the hot storage tank.

Thermal comfort in openair situations is a difficult industrial task. In literature there were insufficient studies on how to control the external microclimate in a region, and there are many activities outside the house in open areas that require temperature control, such as the stadiums in hot humid countries, and tourism, and recreational areas in humid and hot climates. Openair conditioning requires huge amount of energy, that negatively affects the Global warming of the earth. To reduce energy consumption microclimate control is proposed. Isolation of the controlled area is performed to reduce the amount of air-conditioned load. In this project the air conditioning of an external open area will be studied. Wind tunnel with two air flows at different temperatures, relative humilities, angle of attach and velocities will be constructed. The two flows will be allowed to intersect to gather at different conditions (different wind speeds ranging from 1 to 7 m/s, as well as a jet flow about 1 m/s and angles 60 to 90 degrees) to construct an isolation Dom for the targeted outside open area. An open area with the use of cross flow that stops the local wind speed in the targeted area and allows to keep the conditioned air for a long time in the open space. This method allows to save huge energy used continuously for the air-conditioning purpose.

Computer-based analysis of preservice teachers' written reflections could enable educational scholars to design personalized and scalable intervention measures to support reflective writing. Algorithms and technologies in the domain of research related to artificial intelligence have been found to be useful in many tasks related to reflective writing analytics such as classification of text segments. However, mostly shallow learning algorithms have been employed so far. This study explores to what extent deep learning approaches can improve classification performance for segments of written reflections. To do so, a pretrained language model (BERT) was utilized to classify segments of preservice physics teachers' written reflections according to elements in a reflection-supporting model. Since BERT has been found to advance performance in many tasks, it was hypothesized to enhance classification performance for written reflections as well. We also compared the performance of BERT with other deep learning architectures and examined conditions for best performance. We found that BERT outperformed the other deep learning architectures and previously reported performances with shallow learning algorithms for classification of segments of reflective writing. BERT starts to outperform the other models when trained on about 20 to 30% of the training data. Furthermore, attribution analyses for inputs yielded insights into important features for BERT's classification decisions. Our study indicates that pretrained language models such as BERT can boost performance for language-related tasks in educational contexts such as classification.

Practical advances in Ni-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling (SMC) have been limited by a lack of mechanistic understanding of phosphine ligand effects. While bisphosphines are commonly used in these methodologies, we have observed instances where monophosphines can provide comparable or higher levels of reactivity. Seeking to understand the role of ligation state in catalysis, we performed a head-to-head comparison study of C(sp2)-C(sp2) Ni SMCs catalyzed by mono and bisphosphine precatalysts using six distinct substrate pairings. Significant variation in optimal precatalyst was observed, with the monophosphine precatalyst tending to outperform the bisphosphines with electronically deactivated and sterically hindered substrates. Mechanistic experiments revealed a role for monoligated (P1Ni) species in accelerating the fundamental organometallic steps of the catalytic cycle, while highlighting the need for bisligated (P2Ni) species to avoid off-cycle reactivity and catalyst poisoning by heterocyclic motifs. These findings provide guidelines for ligand selection against challenging substrates and future ligand design tailored to the mechanistic demands of Ni-catalyzed SMCs.

IntroductionSevere early childhood caries (S-ECC) is a common disease within marginalized pediatric populations. S-ECC is often treated under general anesthesia to facilitate extensive treatment in young children, but treatment does not address etiology of an infectious disease that is rooted in health behaviors. Without behavior changes related to toothbrushing and sugar consumption, many children experience recurrent disease and some require subsequent surgeries. To improve post-surgery oral health, we developed PROTECT (Preventing Recurrent Operations Targeting Early Childhood Caries Treatment), a community health worker (CHW)-delivered behavioral intervention for caregivers that focuses on children’s oral health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative research methods to receive feedback on the planned protocol for a pilot study of PROTECT, a six-month intervention initiated at the time of a child’s surgery to treat severe early childhood caries.MethodsStudy participants included caregivers of children presenting for surgery [n = 12], CHWs [n = 8] and dentists [n = 8] in a series of audio-video recorded semi-structured interviews. Five coders used Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework for data analysis.ResultsParticipant feedback on the pilot study protocol yielded the following themes: (1) right time, population, and type of support; (2) flexible intervention delivery and content; (3) inclusion of other social determinants of health; and (4) cultural considerations. Implementing a behavioral intervention for caregivers in the immediate time during a child’s surgery for treating dental caries was widely deemed important and timely in order to affect post-surgical behavioral and clinical outcomes. Flexibility in content, timing, and communication were all named as facilitators to participant engagement and study retention. Caregivers and CHWs emphasized the relevance of addressing other social determinants of health. CHWs emphasized the importance of training in becoming aware of culture and practicing with understanding and humility, given the influence on health beliefs, behaviors, and family dynamics. Cultural considerations in intervention delivery were deemed an important factor for participant retention and engagement.DiscussionParticipant feedback led to critical modifications of the pilot study protocol, specifically in intervention content and CHW-led delivery.

Wstęp do bloku tematycznego W drodze do Negantropocenu.

Artykuł jest analizą wybranych projektów performatywnych, które, korzystając z rozmaitych dyspozytywów technologicznych i medialnych, problematyzują procedury skalowania i konfrontują odbiorców z nie-ludzkimi skalami. Z tego punktu widzenia zostały poddane analizie aktywistyczne projekty kolektywu artystycznego Earth Art Studio, wykorzystujące istniejącą infrastrukturę cyfrową i mapy Google jako narzędzia troski o środowisko naturalne. Natomiast wideoinstalacja Yuyan Wang The Moon Also Rises (2022) posłużyła jako przykład takiego dyspozytywu technologicznego, który pozwala odbiorcom doświadczyć cieleśnie zjawisk przebiegających w skali planetarnej. Przywołane jest też jedno z kluczowych dzieł sztuki ziemi – The Spiral Jetty (1970) Roberta Smithsona i przede wszystkim jego film pod tym samym tytułem, przygotowany we współpracy z Nancy Holt. Ten powrót do przeszłości sztuk performatywnych pokazuje wyraźnie, że co najmniej od pół wieku problematyzują one kwestię skali, niejako wyprzedzając tych krytyków antropocenu, którzy stosunkowo niedawno zaczęli nawoływać do weryfikacji skalarnego reżimu nowożytności.

A Organização Mundial de Saúde define atividade física como sendo qualquer movimento corporal produzido pelos músculos esqueléticos que requeiram gasto de energia, incluindo atividades físicas praticadas durante o trabalho, jogos, execução de tarefas domésticas, viagens e em atividades de lazer. Objetivo: Avaliar a saúde dos(as) enfermeiros(as) que atuam em Unidades Básicas de Saúde através da anamnese, avaliação física e exames clínicos laboratoriais, analisando a existência de correlação entre a prática de exercícios físicos com as condições físicas dos enfermeiros e sua qualidade de vida. Metodologia: Abordagem quantitativa com delineamento descritiva-correlacional realizada através de entrevistas estruturadas, exame físico e clínicos com enfermeiros(as) que trabalham nas Unidades Básicas de Saúde. Resultados: Participaram da pesquisa oito enfermeiros(as), sendo que destes apenas um realiza atividade física (12,5%). Constatamos que entre os participantes da pesquisa, dois são obesos (25%), quatro apresentam sobrepeso (50%) e dois (25%) estão com nível de glicose em jejum acima do valor de referência. Conclusão: Devido à escassez de enfermeiros que se dedicam regularmente a alguma forma de atividade física, torna-se desafiador correlacionar a prática de exercícios com as condições físicas e a qualidade de vida desses profissionais. Indivíduos que se engajam em atividades físicas estão menos suscetíveis ao desenvolvimento de doenças como sedentarismo, obesidade, diabetes, doenças cardiovasculares, entre outras.

We use the Twitter application programming interface to construct a novel indicator capturing the varying perceptions of geopolitical risk related to the war in Ukraine. We show that the Twitter variable is a statistically significant determinant of the EUR/PLN exchange rate following the invasion. We estimate that the war in Ukraine was responsible for an increase in the EUR/PLN exchange rate of about 5.0% in the first 2 weeks following its breakout and that the weakening of PLN contributed to an increase of headline inflation in Poland by about 0.33 percentage points. Our findings suggest that monetary policy autonomy can be substantially constrained due to conflicts in nearby countries. Therefore, they provide an argument for Poland in seeking Eurozone membership as a way to contain the impact of geopolitical factors on exchange rate volatility, which is likely to remain at play in the longer run.

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) devices represent a fruitful hope to cope with water shortage problem throughout the world. The vast development in AWH technology and the wide spread of the various AWH techniques will largely contribute in the implementation of AWH machines in different household, agricultural and industrial applications. In the last decades a huge amount of research has been done on AWH methods with amazing differences in results that miss lead the readers and even researchers. In this study the AWH theoretical technology developments, various AWH methods and the various AWH machines in the market are reviewed. A comparison between the different theoretical methods is presented, concentration on unifying results based on area and energy consumption per harvested amount is performed for clear judgment on the different published data. Gaps between theory and market available devices are stated with recommendations for further development in AWH technology.

Abstract Background Babesia canis is a clinically relevant vector-borne pathogen in dogs, and its presence is expanding. The efficacy of Simparica Trio® (Zoetis) in the prevention of B. canis transmission was evaluated at the minimum recommended label dose of 1.2 mg/kg sarolaner, 24 µg/kg moxidectin and 5 mg/kg pyrantel per kg bodyweight. Methods Twenty-four (24) dogs were randomly allocated to either a placebo-treated group or one of two treatment groups with Simparica Trio. Dogs were infested with B. canis-infected Dermacentor reticulatus ticks 21 or 28 days after treatment administration. Blood samples for antibody and DNA detection were collected from each dog prior to tick infestation until 28 days after infestation. A dog was defined as being B. canis positive if it tested positive by both an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and PCR at any time during the study. Results No treatment-related adverse reactions were recorded during the study. All placebo-treated animals displayed clinical signs due to babesiosis and tested positive on both IFA and PCR. None of the Simparica Trio-treated animals displayed any clinical symptoms or tested positive, resulting in a 100% efficacy in the prevention of canine babesiosis (P